Slide-activated, spring-loaded ejector for hot-pluggable disk drive carrier

ABSTRACT

A manually operable ejector assembly is mounted on the front side of a carrier that supports a hot-pluggable disk drive for removable slidable insertion into a sheet metal cage structure portion of a computer system. The ejector assembly includes a main ejector lever which is pivotally spring-biased in a forward direction outwardly from the front side of the carrier, and is releasably held in a pivotally retracted position by a slide bar member that is spring-biased toward a retaining position in which it overlies a free end of the ejector lever. To remove the carrier from the cage, the slide bar member is slid away from the free ejector lever end, thereby permitting the lever to be spring-driven outwardly to an intermediate open position in which it conveniently forms a pull-handle but does not disconnect the drive from the backplane connector. The lever may be then pivoted further outwardly to exert a mechanically advantaged force on the cage to disconnect the drive from the backplane connector and permit the carrier to be pulled forwardly out of the cage. To reinstall the drive, the carrier is slidingly reinserted into the cage and the lever is pivoted inwardly to its retracted position to reconnect the drive to the backplane connector. As the lever reaches its retracted position it cammingly displaces the slide bar member which then snaps back over the free lever end to releasably hold the lever in its retracted position.

This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 09/094,997,filed Jun. 15, 1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the mounting and support ofhard disk drives for computers and, in a preferred embodiment thereof,more particularly relates to apparatus for removably supporting aplurality of hot plug-connected hard disk drives.

2. Description of Related Art

Hard disk drives for a file server or other type of computer are oftenmounted, in a vertically or horizontally stacked array, in a rectangularsheet metal “cage” structure which may be disposed within the computerhousing or externally thereto. For operational convenience andflexibility, each disk drive is typically “hot plug” connected withinthe cage. This type of electrical connection permits any of thesupported disk drives to be removed and reinstalled within the cagewithout disturbing the operation of the other disk drives.

To effect this desirable hot plug connection of each of the disk drives,each disk drive is typically supported on a carrier structure which isslidably and removably insertable into the cage to mate an electricalconnector carried on a rear portion of the drive or its carrierstructure with a corresponding electrical connector on a back planecircuit board suitably supported at the rear interior side of the cage.Ejector mechanisms are typically associated with the carrier structuresand are used to provide a mechanical advantage for the carrier tofacilitate the insertion and removal of the carrier. These ejectormechanisms operate by interacting with the cage structure to providesuch mechanical advantage, and have been provided in a wide variety oftypes and configurations.

Conventional ejector mechanisms tend to have one or more operational orconfigurational disadvantages including being relatively complex andcumbersome to use, requiring two-handed operation, being undesirablybulky, and having an at least somewhat counter-intuitive mode ofoperation.

From the foregoing it can be seen that a need exists for an improvedpluggable device ejector mechanism that eliminates or at leastsubstantially reduces the above-mentioned problems, limitations anddisadvantages typically associated with conventional ejector mechanismsused on hot-pluggable disk drive carrier structures and other pluggabledevices. It is to this need that the present invention is directed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In carrying out principles of the present invention, in accordance witha preferred embodiment thereof, a computer system is provided whichincludes a CPU unit having a microprocessor and a data storage sectionoperative to store data retrievable by the microprocessor. The datastorage section includes a housing in which a spaced series of datastorage devices, illustratively hot-pluggable hard disk drives, areremovably supported using specially designed carrier structures uponwhich the individual disk drives are mounted.

Each carrier structure includes a body secured to the hard disk driveand being removably supported in the housing and forwardly withdrawabletherefrom. The body has a front end portion which carries a speciallydesigned, manual ejector latch assembly which is operative on thehousing to releasably latch the body to the housing and forcibly andreleasably couple an electrical connector associated with the disk driveto an electrical connector disposed within a rear portion of thehousing.

In a preferred embodiment thereof, the ejector latch assembly includes alever member, a retaining structure, and a spring structure. The levermember is pivotable among three positions−(1) a closed position in whichit is closely adjacent the front body portion, (2) an intermediateposition in which it is pivoted forwardly beyond its closed position andin a leveraged engagement with the housing, and (3) an open position inwhich the lever member is pivoted forwardly beyond its intermediateposition and out of leveraged engagement with the housing. The retainingstructure is operative to releasably retain the lever member in itsclosed position, and the spring structure is operative to resilientlyurge the lever member from its closed position toward its intermediateposition.

Preferably, the lever member has a first end operative to engage thehousing, and a second end. The retaining structure includes a retainermember secured to a free end of a resilient spring arm that resilientlybiases the retainer member to a first position in which blocks thesecond lever member end in a manner holding it in its closed position.The retainer member may be moved to a second position in which itunblocks the second lever member end and permits the lever member springstructure to swing the lever member out to its intermediate position.The lever spring structure representatively includes a bifurcated springmember pivotable with the lever member and having a first arm engageablewith the body when the lever member is in its closed position, and asecond arm resiliently deflectable by the lever member when it is in itsclosed position.

With the body operatively inserted into the housing and the disk driveelectrical connector releasably coupled to its associated housingelectrical connector, the lever member is in its closed position andreleasably retained in such position by the retainer member. Tosubsequently remove the disk drive/carrier assembly, the retainer ismanually moved from its first position to its second position, therebypermitting the lever member spring structure to force the lever memberoutwardly from its closed position to its intermediate position in whichit defines a convenient, easily graspable pull handle for the assembly.

The user then grasps the lever member and forwardly pulls it in a mannerpivoting it outwardly to its open position and causing the lever tointeract with the housing in a manner forwardly moving the body touncouple the disk drive connector from its associated housing connector.A further forward pull on the lever member pulls the entire diskdrive/carrier assembly out of the housing.

To operatively reinsert the disk drive/carrier assembly into thehousing, the body, with the lever member in its open position, is simplyinserted rearwardly into the housing to a supported position therein andthe lever member is manually pivoted from its open position to itsclosed position to thereby cause the first lever member end to engagethe housing and exert a mechanically advantaged forward force thereonwhich forcibly drives the body rearwardly and couples the disk drive andhousing connectors. As the lever member pivotally reaches its closedposition, its second end cams the retainer member outwardly to itssecond position, and then permits the retainer member to snap back toits first position over the second end of the lever member to releasablyretain the lever member in its closed position in which it releasablylatches the disk drive/carrier assembly in the housing.

The ejector latch assembly is of a simple and relatively inexpensivedesign, can be easily operated with one hand, is quite compact when thelever member is in its closed position closely adjacent the body portionof the assembly, and has an intuitive operational procedure andsequence. While the ejector latch assembly is illustrated and describedherein as being utilized in conjunction with a hot-pluggable hard diskdrive, it can also be advantageously use in conjunction with a varietyor other types of pluggable electronic devices including, for example,circuit boards and CD ROM drives.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a representative computer system havingincorporated therein a stacked hard disk drive/carrier array supportedin a cage structure and embodying principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a simplified, partially exploded perspective view of the cagestructure and the plurality of disk drive/carrier assemblies operativelysupported therein and hot plug-connected to backplane electricalconnectors therein, with one of the disk drive/carrier assemblies havingbeen removed from the cage structure;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged scale perspective detail view of an inner sideportion of one of the vertical side walls of the cage structure;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged scale top plan view of the removed diskdrive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged scale bottom plan view of the removed diskdrive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged scale front end elevational view of the removeddisk drive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged scale rear end elevational view of the removeddisk drive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged scale right side elevational view of the removeddisk drive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged scale left side elevational view of the removeddisk drive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged scale exploded top, rear and right sideperspective view of the removed disk drive/carrier assembly, withopposite heat sink wall portions of the carrier being pivoted outwardlyto their disk drive release positions relative to a base wall portion ofthe carrier, and portions of the assembly having been removed forpurposes of illustrative clarity;

FIGS. 11-13 are enlarged scale top, front and left side perspectiveviews of the removed disk drive/carrier assembly, with a latch portionthereof respectively being in closed, partially opened, and fully openedpositions thereof;

FIGS. 11A-13A are enlarged scale partial cross-sectional view throughthe removed disk drive/carrier assembly respectively taken along lines11A—11A, 12A—12A and 13A—13A of FIGS. 11-13;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged scale, partially cut away perspective view ofpart of the carrier portion of the removed assembly and illustrates afiber optic cable-based LED indicating light transfer structureintegrally incorporated into the carrier;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged scale partial exploded perspective view of theremoved disk drive /carrier assembly and illustrates a heat sink supportstructure feature thereof;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged scale cross-sectional view through one of thecage-supported disk drive/carrier assemblies taken along line 16—16 ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged scale front side elevational view of the cagestructure and illustrates two of the disk drive/carrier assembliessupported and hot plug-connected therein; and

FIG. 18 is an enlarged scale detail view of the dashed circled area “A”in FIG. 17.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Schematically illustrated in FIG. 1 is a representative computer system10, the components of which are interconnected as shown and include acomputer, illustratively in the form of a tower type CPU unit 12; amonitor 14; a keyboard 16; and a pointing device, representatively inthe form of a mouse 18. In addition to various other components disposedtherein, the CPU unit 12 has a data storage section, representatively avertically stacked series of hard disk drives 20, operative to storedata that may be retrieved by a microprocessor 22 within the CPU unit12.

In the illustrated embodiment of the CPU unit 12, the vertically stackedseries of hard disk drives 20 are removably positioned within a supporthousing, representatively in the form of a sheet metal cage structure 24positioned within the outer housing 26 of the CPU unit 12, usingspecially designed carrier apparatus embodying principles of the presentinvention and subsequently described herein. Alternatively, the cagestructure 24 could be located externally of the CPU housing 26 within aseparate rack housing (not shown). Moreover, while the disk drives 20have been representatively illustrated as being vertically stacked, theycould also be positioned in a horizontally stacked array in which thecage 24 was rotated ninety degrees to one side instead of beingvertically oriented.

The data storage section of the computer system 10, with its verticallystacked array of hard disk drives 20 (representatively five in number),is shown in simplified, partially exploded perspective form in FIG. 2.As illustrated, the sheet metal cage structure 24 functions as a supporthousing and representatively is of a vertically elongated rectangularconfiguration, having an open front side 28, top and bottom walls 30 and32, left and right vertical side walls 34 and 36, and a backplanestructure 38 extending along its rear side. Ventilation holes 40 areformed in the top, left and right cage walls 30,34 and 36, and aschematically illustrated fan 42 is operatively disposed behind thebackplane structure 38 within the computer housing 26. During operationof the CPU unit 12, the fan 42 draws cooling air 44 into the interior ofthe cage structure 24 through its open front side 28 and its ventilationholes 40, flows the air 44 along the disk drives 20 supported within thecage 24, and then discharges the air outwardly through the rear of thecage 24 around the periphery of the backplane structure 38.

The backplane structure 38 has a vertically elongated rectangularconfiguration, with a front side 46 from which a vertically spaced arrayof five male electrical connectors 48 (one for each of the five diskdrives 20) forwardly project. To the left of each of the connectors 48are three vertically stacked LED indicating lights 50,52 and 54. Aslater described herein, these indicating lights are used to provide avisual indicia as to the operating state of each of the hard disk drives20.

Each of the disk drives 20 is supported on a specially designed carrierstructure 60 which is used, as later described herein, to removablysupport the disk drives 20 within the cage 24 in a manner creating a hotplug connection for each drive to one of the backplane connectors 48. Tofacilitate the removable support within the cage 24 of each of thecarriers, portions 62 of the vertical left and right side walls 34,36 ofthe cage 24 are lanced inwardly to form for each carrier 60 a pair offront and rear guide rail sections 64 on each of the left and right cageside walls 34 and 36 (see FIGS. 3 and 16-18), with each of the guiderail sections 64 being defined by vertically facing pairs of thelanced-in cage wall portions 62. For purposes later described herein,directly above each front pair of lanced-in wall portions 62 is anarcuate lanced-in wall portion 66.

Each disk drive 20 (see FIGS. 10 and 15) has a generally rectangularconfiguration which is elongated in a front-to-rear direction, andfurther has front and rear end walls 68 and 70, top and bottom sidewalls 72 and 74, and left and right vertical side walls 76 and 78. Ineach of the left and right side walls 76,78 a pair of threaded mountingholes 80,82 are formed near the bottom side of the disk driverespectively adjacent respectively adjacent its front and rear ends Acircuit board 84 is operatively mounted on the bottom side of the diskdrive 20, and is electrically coupled thereto. The circuit board 84,which forms a portion of the overall disk drive structure, has a femaleSCA connector 86 thereon which is centrally positioned at the rear endwall 70 of the disk drive and is releasably mateable, in a hot-plugmanner, with a corresponding one of the backplane connectors 48 (seeFIGS. 2 and 16) in response to operative insertion of the disk drive 20into the cage 24 as later described herein.

Structure of the Carriers 60

The carrier structures 60 are used to support the hard disk drives 20for removable sliding insertion into the interior cage 24 to supportedoperating positions in which the disk drives are releasably hot-pluggedto the backplane connectors 48 received in the SCA connectors 86 of theinserted disk drives 20. Each carrier structure 60 is of a unitary, noloose parts construction comprised of several components that arecaptively retained on one another so that none of the components can beseparated from the structure and become misplaced, lost or easilydamaged.

More specifically, and with reference now to FIGS. 4-18, each of thedisk drive carriers 60 (see, in particular, FIGS. 10, 14 and 15)includes a perforated sheet metal bottom or base wall 90; left and rightmetal side wall heat sink structures 92 and 94; a molded plastic frontbezel structure 96; and a molded plastic ejector latch assembly 98.

Base wall 90 has front and rear end edges 100 and 102, left and rightside edges 104 and 106, and an upturned rear end flange 108 having arectangular opening 110 therein. For purposes later described herein, atthe opposite rear corners of the base wall 90 are upturned rear edgetabs 112.

Each of the left and right metal side wall heat sink structures 92 and94 extends upwardly from its associated base wall 90 and has arelatively thin rectangular body section 114 which is horizontallyelongated in a front-to-rear direction relative to the base wall 90 andis positioned adjacent one of the left and right base wall side edges104,106. The outer sides of the left and right side body sections 114have formed thereon vertically spaced pluralities of elongated heat sinkfin projections 116 that longitudinally extend in front-to-reardirections.

Along the bottom side edge of each of the left and right side walls92,94 is an outwardly projecting mounting flange 118 which is slidinglyreceivable in the previously mentioned cage guide rail sections 64 tomount the carrier 60 (and thus the disk drive 20 which it supports)within the cage 24. Front and rear disk drive mounting screws 120,122are captively retained on each of the body sections 114 and extendtherethrough from their outer sides to their inner sides 124. Forpurposes later described herein, just forwardly of the front mountingscrews 120 are a pair of outwardly projecting boss structures 126 formedon the outer sides of the left and right carrier side wall body sections114. Additionally, flanges 128, elongated in a front-to-rear directions,are formed on the top side edges of the body sections 114.

At the rear end of each of the side wall body sections 114 is aninturned tab 130 having a horizontal slot 132 formed therein. Top endportions 112 a of the upturned base wall rear corner tabs 112 areslidingly received in the slots 132 which are substantially wider inleft-to-right directions than the corresponding widths of the top tabend portions 112 a. The side wall body sections 114 have inturnedtransverse front end portions 114 a each defined by a vertically spacedseries of separated heat sink fins 134 joined at their inner ends by avertical bar member 136.

Front and rear resilient shock isolation feet 137 a,137 b (see FIGS.5-9) are suitably secured to the underside of each of the side wall bodysections 114 and project downwardly beyond its bottom side surface. Feet137 a,137 b have rectangular configurations which are elongated infront-torear directions, with the feet 137 a being positioned adjacentthe junctures of the body sections 114 and their associated transversefront end portions, and the feet 137 b being positioned adjacent therear ends of the body sections 114.

The molded plastic bezel structure 96 (see FIGS. 5, 6,10 and 14) ispositioned at the front end of the carrier 60 and has a hollowrectangular central section 138 with an open rear side 140 and a frontwall 142 with a rectangular opening 144 therein. A translucent plasticplate member 146 with disk operating icons 148,150,152 thereon isreceived in the opening 144. At the rear side of the central bezelsection 138 is a bottom base plate portion 154 of the bezel which iselongated in left and right directions and underlies a front end edgeportion of the metal carrier base wall 90. A spaced series of postsextend upwardly from the bezel base plate portion 154 throughcorresponding holes in the metal carrier base plate 90 and are heatstaked thereto as at 156.

Hollow bosses 158,160 (see FIG. 11A) are respectively formed on left andright sides of the central bezel section 138 and are respectivelyreceived between the two lowermost heat sink fins 134 on the transversefront end portions 114 a of the left and right heat sink walls 92,94 ofthe carrier 60. Shouldered screws 162 extend vertically through thefront end portions 114 a, and the bosses 158,160, and secure the frontend portions 114 a to the bezel 96 for pivotal motion relative theretoabout vertical axes extending through the bosses 158,160.

The ejector latch assembly 98 (see FIGS. 11-13A) includes an elongatedmolded plastic ejector lever member 164; a molded plastic retainer slidemember 166; and a molded plastic bifurcated spring member 168. Theejector lever member 164 has an inner end portion 170 with an inner siderecess 172 formed therein, and a generally transverse, rearwardlyinturned outer end portion 174 having an outer side notch 176 disposedat its juncture with the balance of the lever member. The retainer slidemember 166 is formed integrally with an elongated spring arm structure178 which, in turn, is formed integrally with a left side of the centralbezel section 138 and extends between the two lowermost heat sink fins134 on the left front corner of the carrier 60. As illustrated, theretainer slide member 166 is exposed on a left front side portion of thecarrier 60.

The bifurcated spring member 168 has an elongated inner side arm 180, anelongated outer side arm 182 with a rounded projection 184 at its outerend, and an inner end portion 186 with a notch 188 formed therein. Innerend portions of the ejector lever 164 and the bifurcated spring member168 are positioned between the two lowermost heat sink fins 134 on aright front corner portion of the carrier 60 and are pivotally securedto such heat sink fins 134 by a vertically extending shouldered screw190. The spring member 168 is pivotable relative to the lever member 164in a manner such that the outer side arm 182 can swing into and out ofthe lever side recess 172, and the outer end of the inner side arm 180is forwardly adjacent the boss 160. As illustrated, the notched innerend portion 186 of the ejector lever member 164 projects outwardlybeyond a right front corner portion of the carrier 60 in a rightwarddirection.

Turning now to FIG. 14, a rearwardly facing exposed optical connector192 is suitably mounted on the left rear corner of the carrier 60 in acutout area 194 of the left inturned side wall tab 130. The connector192 extends forwardly through the cutout area 194 into a verticallyenlarged portion of a horizontally elongated groove 196 formed in theinner side surface 124 of the body section 114 of the left heat sinkside wall 92. Three fiber optic cables 198,200,202 are operativelycoupled at rear ends thereof to the connector 192 and longitudinallyextend therefrom through the groove 196 to adjacent its front end nearthe front end section 114 a of the left side wall heat sink structure92. At this point the fiber optic cables 198,200,202 turn rightwardly toa location directly behind the open rear side 140 of the central bezelsection 138. The cables then turn forwardly and connect to a lensstructure 204 disposed within the interior of the central bezel section138. Lens structure 204 has three spaced apart, forwardly projectingsections 206,208,210 which are respectively associated with the frontends of the fiber optic cables 198,200,202. The lens sections206,208,210 have front ends which are located behind the plastic platemember 145 and respectively aligned with the drive operating icons148,150,152 thereon (see FIG. 6).

Referring now to FIGS. 10 and 15, each of the carriers 60 also includesa pair of thermally conductive resilient heat transfer interface padmembers 212 having horizontally elongated configurations. Pads 212 areadhered to the inner sides 124 of the side wall body sections 114, withthe left pad 212 being mounted over the groove 196 in the left bodysection 114. Holes 120 a,122 a are formed in the pads 212 to permitpassage of the captively retained mounting screws 120,122 therethrough.

Use and Operation of the Carriers 60

The operation, use and various advantages of the disk drive carriers 60will now be described in detail with initial reference to FIGS. 10 and11. To ready one of the carriers 60 for operative supporting connectionto one of the hard disk drives 20, the rear ends of the left and rightside wall heat sink structures 92,94 are pivoted outwardly away from oneanother and the opposite left and right side edges 104,106 of the basewall 90, as indicated by the arrows 214 in FIG. 10, to thereby increasethe distance between the inner side surfaces 124 of the body sections114. The two side wall portions 92,94 pivot horizontally about thevertical shouldered screws 162 at the front of the carrier 60 (see FIG.11A), with the engagement of the rear corner tabs 112 with the inner endsurfaces of the tab slots 132 serving to limit the extent of thisoutward pivoting.

The disk drive 20 is then simply placed atop the base wall 90 so thatthe disk drive threaded mounting holes 80,82 are aligned with the frontand rear mounting screws 120,122 captively retained on the left andright side wall structures 92 and 94. The side walls 92 and 94 are thenpivoted back toward one another to their positions shown in FIGS. 4 and5 in which they are parallel to the left and right side edges of thebase wall 90. Finally, the mounting screws 120,122 are simply screwedinto the corresponding opposing disk drive side openings 80 and 82.

This simple procedure securely mounts the disk drive 20 in the carrier60 in a manner such that the bottom, opposite sides and opposite ends ofthe mounted disk drive are shielded by portions of the carrier structureagainst user hand contact with the mounted disk drive, while at the sametime providing an appreciable degree of ESD shielding for the disk drive20. The completed disk drive/carrier assembly 20,60 may then beoperatively inserted into the cage 24 (see FIG. 2) as later describedherein.

When the disk drive/carrier assembly 20,60 is subsequently withdrawnfrom the cage 24, the removal of the disk drive 20 from its carrier iseffected simply by unscrewing the mounting screws 120,122 from the diskdrive 20, pivoting the carrier side wall structures 92,94 outwardly totheir FIG. 10 release positions to facilitate removal of the disk drive,and then simply lifting the now freed disk drive 20 off of the top sideof the base wall 90.

As can readily be seen, both the installation of the disk drive 20 onits associated carrier 60, and the subsequent removal of the disk drive20 from its carrier 60, can be carried out without the removal of anyportion of the carrier 60 from the balance thereof. This is due to theunique “no loose parts” construction of the carrier 60 in which all ofits components are captively carried by the balance of the carrier.Specifically, the front ends of the side wall structures 92,94 arecaptively and movably retained on the bezel 96, the rear ends of theside wall structures 92,94 are captively and movably retained on thebase wall 90, the bezel 96 is captively retained on the base wall 90,the latch assembly 98 is captively and movably retained on the bezel 96and the right side wall structure 94, and the mounting screws 120,122are captively and movably retained on the left and right carrier sidewall portions 92 and 94. In this manner the potential for losing,misplacing or potentially damaging portions of carrier 60 in conjunctionwith mounting the disk drive on an associated carrier, or removing thedisk drive therefrom, is substantially eliminated.

Each of the disk drive/carrier assemblies may be operatively installedwithin the interior of the cage 24 (see FIG. 2) by simply sliding thecarrier mounting flanges 118 rearwardly into the appropriate opposingpairs of cage guide rail sections 64 (see FIGS. 3, 16 and 18), and thenusing the carrier's ejector latch assembly 98 to releasably mate, in ahot-plugged manner, the disk drive's rear-mounted SCA connector 86 (seeFIGS. 10 and 15) with a facing one of the backplane connectors 48 (seeFIGS. 2 and 16). The operation of the specially designed ejector latchassembly 98 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 11-13A.

One of the disk drive/carrier assemblies 20,60 is shown in FIGS. 11 and11A with its ejector latch assembly 98 in its fully closed, lockedposition to which it is moved, after the carrier 60 is slid into thecage 24, to mate the disk drive/backplane connector pair 86,48 andreleasably lock the disk drive/carrier assembly 20/60 in its operativeposition within the cage 24. As illustrated, with the ejector latchassembly 98 in this position, the ejector lever member 164longitudinally extends in a left-to-right direction and is compactlypositioned closely adjacent the front side of the central bezel section138, with the inturned outer end portion 174 of the lever member 164being received between the lowermost pair of heat sink fins 134 on theleft front corner of the carrier 60.

The outer end of the inner side arm 180 of the bifurcated spring member168 is in abutment with the boss 160, and the outer side arm 182 isreceived within the inner side recess 172 of the outer side arm 182. Theouter end projection 184 of the outer side arm 182 is engaging the frontside surface of the recess 172 in a manner rearwardly bending the outerside arm 182, thereby exerting a resilient forward pivotal biasing forceon the ejector lever member 164. The forwardly biased ejector levermember 164 is prevented from forwardly pivoting away from its fullyclosed position shown in FIGS. 11 and 11A by the retainer slide member166, a portion of which forwardly overlies the outer side notch area 176at the outer end of the lever member 164 and releasably blocks forwardpivoting of the lever member 164 relative to the front end of thecarrier 60. As illustrated, the inner or right end 186 of the bifurcatedspring member 168, adjacent the notch 188 therein, is received within animmediately adjacent vertical channel portion 36 a of the right sidewall 36 of the cage 24 (see FIG. 2).

When it is desired to remove the inserted disk drive/carrier assembly20,60 from the interior of the cage 24, and unplug the disk driveconnector 86 from its associated backplane connector 48, the user simplymoves the retainer slide member 166 leftwardly, as indicated by thearrows 216 in FIGS. 11 and 11A, thereby leftwardly bending the springarm structure 178 and shifting the retainer slide member 166 out ofoverlying, blocking engagement with the left end of the ejector levermember 164.

This permits the previously deformed outer side arm 182 to forwardlypivot the ejector lever member 164 out to an intermediate positionthereof (see FIGS. 12 and 12A) as indicated by the arrows 218 in FIGS.12 and 12A. The pivotal movement of the lever member 164 from its fullyclosed position to its intermediate position does not unplug the diskdrive connector 86 from its associated backplane connector 48, butexposes the juncture of the elongated main lever body and its inturnedouter end portion 174 to present a convenient pull handle structure tothe user which he may grasp and pull forwardly with one hand.

By manually pulling in a forward direction on the lever member 164 inits intermediate position shown in FIGS. 12 and 12a, the lever member isforwardly pivoted outwardly to an opened position thereof shown in FIGS.13 and 13a. This movement of the lever member 164 to such openedposition drives the inner end 186 of the bifurcated spring member 168rearwardly against the vertical cage channel section 36 a (see FIG. 13A)to forwardly drive the carrier 60 relative to the cage 24, as indicatedby the arrow 220 in FIG. 13A, to decouple the disk drive connector 86from its associated backplane connector 48. A further forward manualpull on the lever member 164 pivots the inner spring member end 186 outof leveraged engagement with the vertical cage channel section 36 a andpulls the disk drive/carrier assembly 20,60 out of the cage 24.

This process is simply reversed to easily and quickly install one of thedisk drive/carrier assemblies 20,60 in the interior of the cage 24.Specifically, with the lever member 164 in its fully opened position thecarrier mounting flanges 118 (see FIGS. 10, 16 and 18) are slidrearwardly into opposing pairs of the cage guide rail structures 64 (seeFIGS. 3, 16 and 18) until the inner end 186 of the bifurcated springmember 168 is adjacent the vertical channel section 36 a (see FIG. 13A).Lever member 164 is then rearwardly pivoted through its FIG. 13A openedposition and its FIG. 12A intermediate position to its FIG. 11A lockedposition.

Via the leveraged interaction between the inner end 186 of thebifurcated spring member 168 and the vertical cage channel section 36 athis drives the disk drive/carrier assembly 20,60 further rearwardlyrelative to the cage 24 to couple the disk drive connector 86 and itsassociated backplane connector 48 as the lever member 164 is rearwardlypivoted from its FIG. 13A position to its FIG. 12A position. As thelever member 164 is further pivoted from its FIG. 12A position to itsFIG. 11A closed position, the lever member 164 engages and rearwardlybends the outer spring side arm 182, and the curved outer side surface222 of the lever member outer end portion 174 engages and leftwardlycams the retainer slide member 166 (thus leftwardly bending the springarm structure 178) to permit the lever member end portion 174 to enterthe space between the two lowermost heat sink fins 134 on the left frontcorner of the carrier 60. upon entry of the lever end portion 174 intothis space, the resiliently deformed spring arm structure 178 causes theretainer slide member 166 to snap rightwardly back into the outer endnotch 176 of the lever member 164 to releasably retain the lever member164 in its closed position, shown in FIGS. 11 and 11A, against theforward pivotal biasing force of the resiliently deformed outer side arm182 of the bifurcated spring member 168.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the overall ejector latch assembly 98is of a simple, relatively inexpensive construction, and is easilyuseable with one hand, in a quite intuitive manner, to latch and unlatchthe carrier 60 to and from the cage 24 and couple and decouple theconnector pair 48,86. The ejector latch assembly 98 in its closedorientation is also quite compact, but opens outwardly to define aneasily graspable pull handle structure. While the ejector latch assembly98 has been illustrated as being associated with a disk drive structureit could be alternatively utilized with a variety of other types ofpluggable devices such as, by way of example, circuit boards and CD ROMdrives.

In addition to its no-loose-parts construction and its improved ejectorlatch assembly, the carrier 60 is provided with several other advantagesover conventionally configured carrier structures used to operativelysupport disk drives in support housings such as sheet metal cages. Oneof these additional advantages is the provision of substantiallyimproved dissipation of disk drive operating heat. As will be recalled,the pivotable opposite side wall portions 92,94 of the carrier 60 areconfigured as heat sink structures, having integral fin portions 116,134thereon. When one of the disk drives 20 is supported on its carrier 60within the cage 24 (see FIG. 2), the operation of the fan 42 drawscooling air 44 inwardly through the front carrier fins 134 and along thesupported disk drive, and inwardly through the cage ventilation holes 40along the disk drive 20 and the carrier side wall cooling fins 116 toconvectively dissipate disk drive operating heat from the diskdrive/carrier assembly 20,60.

This convective heat dissipation is very substantially augmented by theprovision of the heat conductive thermal interface pad members 212 (seeFIGS. 10 and 15) which are compressed between the carrier side wallmembers 92,94 and the facing left and right sides 76,78 of the diskdrive 20. The use of these pads 212 substantially increases theconductive heat transfer between the supported disk drive and the heatsink side wall portions 92,94 of the carrier 60 to thereby increase theoverall disk drive operating heat transfer to the cooling flow of air 44rearwardly through the interior of the support cage structure 24.

Another advantage of the carrier structure 60 is the manner in which itprovides a visual indication of the operational state of the disk drive20 that it removably supports within the cage 24. When the disk drive 20is hot plug-connected to its associated backplane connector 48 withinthe cage 24, the circuitry associated with the drive 20 (i.e., theelectronics on its underlying circuit board portion 84) activates thethree LED indicating lights 50,52,54 leftwardly adjacent the backplaneconnector 48 (see FIGS. 2 and 14) in accordance with the operationalstate of the disk drive 20. When any of the three indicating lights50,52,54 is activated, its light output is received by the opticalconnector 192 on the left rear corner of the carrier 60 and transmittedvia the associated one of the three fiber optic cables 198,200,202 tothe lens structure 204 at the front of the carrier 60 and then to theassociated one of the three drive operating icons 148,150,152 via one ofthe lens sections 206,208,210 disposed in a central front end portion ofthe carrier 60.

The unique positioning of the light transmitting elements 200,202,204within the interior of the carrier 60, as opposed to being routedexternally along the outer side thereof or on the cage structure 24,provides this transfer of the LED indicating light signals withoutincreasing the outer spatial envelope of the carrier 60 or adding thecomplexity of placing the transfer elements on the cage structure.Additionally, due to the use of fiber optic cables as the lighttransmitting elements, neither the required bends in the elements toaccommodate the central placement of the operating icons 148,150,152 northe length of the transmitting element runs from the LED lights 50,52,54to the operating icons 148,150,152 appreciably diminishes the lightoutput intensity at the operating icons.

Illustratively, the hard disk drives 20 supported by the carriers 60 arehigh speed drives that operate in the 7,200 RPM to 12,000 RPM rotationalspeed range. This speed range refers to the rotational speed range ofthe platter portion of each drive around a rotational axis 224 of thedrive (see FIG. 16) which is transverse to the base wall 90 of thecarrier 60. As is well known, this high rotational speed tends to causeself-induced rotational vibration of the drive about the axis 224 asindicated by the double-ended arrow 226 in FIG. 16. If not suitablycontrolled, this rotational vibration 226 about the axis 224 cansubstantially degrade the performance of the supported disk drive 20.

Conventional approaches to controlling this self-induced operationalvibration have included placing resilient vibration absorbing structuresbetween the disk drive and its associated carrier, or simply increasingthe size and mass of the carrier to better absorb this operationalvibration of the disk drive. Neither of these previously proposedapproaches has proven to be entirely satisfactory, the separateresilient shock absorbing system being an additional source ofundesirable size, complexity and cost, and the increased size and massof the carrier undesirably increasing he overall size of the stackeddisk drive array.

In the specially designed carrier 60, however, the self-inducedrotational vibratory forces of its supported hard disk drive 20 aboutthe axis 224 are very substantially reduced by using the two bossstructures 126 on opposite sides of the carrier 60 (see FIGS. 16 and 17)to create on the cage-inserted carrier 60 two oppositely disposedinterference fits between the boss structures 126 and the lanced-incarrier side wall portions 66 in response to insertion of the carrier 60into the cage 24 as previously described herein.

These opposite interference fits between the cage 24 and the carrier 60are offset in a front-to-rear direction relative to the rotational axis224 of the supported hard disk drive 20. Preferably, as shown in FIG.16, such opposed interference fit locations are forwardly offset fromthe rotational axis 224, but could alternatively be rearwardly offsettherefrom. Because of this offset of the two opposed interference fitlocations from the rotational axis 224 it can be seen that the cage 24serves to strongly impede vibration induced rotation of the disk drive20 in either direction about the drive's rotational axis 224. The bosses126 can be simply be integral metal portions of the cage side wallsections 92 and 94 or, as indicated in FIG. 16, be partially defined bysuitable nonmetallic inserts 126a supported in base portions of thebosses 126.

Another potential source of damage to the disk drives 20 arises fromwhat is commonly referred to as non-operational shock damage. This typeof shock damage to one of the carrier-supported disk drives 20 can arisewhen the carrier is removed from the cage 24 and placed on a horizontalwork surface such as a table or work bench. For example, if the removedcarrier accidentally slips out of a technician's hand and falls only ashort distance onto the surface, or is placed on edge on the surface andthen tips over onto the surface, the carrier-supported drive can bedamaged from this type of non-operational shock.

In previously utilized, relatively low speed disk drives stacked inrelatively low density arrangements, the non-operational shock problemwas dealt with by placing resilient shock absorbing foot structures onthe bottom sides of the drive carriers. Thus, if the carrier fell ashort distance or tipped over onto a horizontal support surface, thefeed absorbed the resulting non-operational shock and preventedresulting damage to the carrier-supported disk drive. However, with thegrowing trend toward stacking carrier supported disk drives inincreasingly dense arrays, the additional stacking space required byeven these small resilient shock-absorbing feet came to be unacceptable,with the result being that many computer manufacturers simply eliminatedsuch feet and relied on labels placed on the disk drives and warningusers of the drives to handle them very carefully to avoidnon-operational shock damage thereto.

In the specially designed carrier 60, however, the configurations of thedisk drive/carrier assemblies 20,60 are related to one another in aunique manner permitting the previously described vibration isolationfeet 137 a,137 b (see FIGS. 5-9, 17 and 18) to be placed on the bottomsides of the carriers 60 without appreciably increasing the overallstack height of a stacked array of disk drive/carrier assemblies 20,60within the cage structure 24.

Specifically, as best illustrated in FIG. 18, each disk drive/carrierassembly 20,60 is configured in a manner such that the top side edges ofthe top edge flanges 128 on the left and right carrier side wallstructures 92,94 are downwardly offset from the top side of the diskdrive 20 supported in the carrier 60 to thereby create in the assembly20,60 front-to-rear extending depressed areas 228 (see FIGS. 17 and 18)outwardly adjacent top right and left corner portions of the supporteddisk drive 20.

These depressed areas 228 define what may be termed nesting areas thatdownwardly receive the resilient support feet 137 a,137 b on the bottomside of the upwardly adjacent carrier 20. For example, the support feet137 a,137 b on the bottom side of the upper disk drive/carrier assembly20,60 a shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 downwardly nest in the opposite topcorner depressed areas 228 of the lower disk drive/carrier assembly20,60 b, with the bottom sides of the support feet 137 a,137 b on theupper disk drive/carrier assembly 20,60 a being downwardly offset fromthe top side of the top side of the lower disk drive 20. Thus, in eachvertically successive pair of disk drive/carrier assemblies 20,60 theresilient shock absorbing feet 137 a,137 b in the upper assembly arereceived and nest within the outer spatial envelope of the lowerassembly so that the desirable presence of the shock absorbing feet 137a,137 b does not appreciably increase the stack height of the multi-diskdrive array. While this unique nesting of the support feet has beenrepresentatively illustrated and described in conjunction with avertically stacked array of carrier supported disk drives, it will bereadily appreciated that it could also be utilized to advantage inconjunction with a horizontally stacked array of carrier-supported diskdrives as well.

The foregoing detailed description is to be clearly understood as beinggiven by way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope ofthe present invention being limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for supporting a pluggableelectronic device having a first electrical connector thereon within ahousing having a second electrical connector therein, comprising: a bodysecurable to the device and being rearwardly and removably insertableinto the housing to a supported operating position in which the firstand second connectors are releasably coupled, wherein the body has afront surface configured to transfer heat from the device to asurrounding environment; and an ejector latch assembly carried by afront portion of said body and operative upon the housing, when saidbody is inserted therein, to releasably latch said body to the housingand forcibly couple and uncouple the first and second connectors, saidejector latch assembly including: a lever member pivotable between aclosed position in which it is closely adjacent said front body portion,an intermediate position in which it is pivoted forwardly beyond saidclosed position and in a leveraged engagement with the housing, and anopen position in which it is pivoted forwardly beyond its intermediateposition and out of a leveraged engagement with the housing; a retainingstructure operative to releasably retain said lever member in saidclosed position; and a spring structure operative to resiliently urgesaid lever member from its closed position toward its intermediateposition.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a pluggableelectronic device secured to said body.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2wherein said pluggable electronic device is a data storage device. 4.The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said pluggable electronic device is ahot-pluggable hard disk drive.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 furthercomprising: a pluggable electronic device secured to said body andhaving a first electrical connector, and a housing removably receivingsaid body and having a second connector releasably coupled to said firstelectrical connector.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said levermember has a first end engageable by the housing, and a second endengageable by said retaining structure.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1wherein said spring structure is rotatable relative to said body andresiliently compressible between said body and said lever member whensaid lever member is in said closed position.
 8. The apparatus of claim7 wherein said spring structure is a bifurcated spring member having afirst arm engageable with said body when said lever member is in saidclosed position, and a second arm resiliently deflectable by said levermember when said lever member is in said closed position.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 6 wherein: said retaining member is supported formovement between a first position in which it blocks said second levermember end in a manner preventing said lever member from pivoting fromsaid closed position toward said open position, and a second position inwhich said retainer member unblocks said second lever member end, andsaid retaining member is resiliently biased toward said first position.10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein: said apparatus further comprises aresilient spring arm secured to said body and having a free end, andsaid retaining member is secured to said free end of said resilientspring arm.
 11. A computer system having a CPU unit with amicroprocessor and a data storage section operative to store dataretrievable by said microprocessor, said data storage sectioncomprising: a pluggable data storage device having a first electricalconnector associated therewith; a housing having a second electricalconnector associated therewith; a body secured to said data storagedevice, said body being removably supported in said housing and withdrawable therefrom, the body comprising a cooling fin to transfer heatfrom the data storage device; and an ejector latch carried by said bodyfor releasably latching said body to said housing and forcibly couplingand uncoupling said first and second electrical connectors, said ejectorlatch including a manually operable lever pivotable toward and away fromsaid body respectively between closed and open positions in which saidlever is moved out of and into leveraged engagement with said housing,the ejector latch further including a spring to resiliently bias saidlever from said closed position toward said open position, and aretainer to releasably hold said lever in said closed position.
 12. Thecomputer system of claim 11 wherein said data storage device is ahot-pluggable hard disk drive.
 13. The computer system of claim 11wherein said lever means include an elongated lever member having afirst end engageable by said housing, and a second end engageable bysaid retaining means.
 14. The computer system of claim 13 wherein saidspring means are rotatable relative to said body and resilientlycompressible between said body and said lever member when said levermeans are in said closed position.
 15. The computer system of claim 13wherein: said retaining means include a retaining member supported formovement between a first position in which it blocks said second levermember end in a manner preventing said lever member from pivoting fromsaid closed position toward said open position, and a second position inwhich said retaining member unblocks said second lever member end, andsaid retaining member is resiliently biased toward said first position.16. The computer system of claim 15 wherein: said computer systemfurther comprises a resilient spring arm secured to said body and havinga free end, and said retaining member is secured to said free end ofsaid resilient spring arm.
 17. A computer system having a CPU unit witha microprocessor and a data storage section operative to store dataretrievable by said microprocessor, said data storage sectioncomprising: a pluggable data storage device having a first electricalconnector associated therewith; a housing having a second electricalconnector associated therewith; a body secured to said data storagedevice, said body being removably supported in said housing andwithdrawable therefrom the body being configured with a cooling fin totransfer heat from the pluggable data storage device; and an ejectorlatch assembly carried by a front portion of said body and operativeupon said housing to releasably latch said body to said housing andforcibly couple and uncouple the first and second connectors, saidejector latch assembly including: a lever member pivotable among aclosed position in which it is closely adjacent said front body portion,an intermediate position in which it is pivoted forwardly beyond saidclosed position and in a leveraged engagement with said housing, and anopen position in which it is pivoted forwardly beyond its intermediateposition and out of leveraged engagement with said housing, a retainingstructure operative to releasably retain said lever member in saidclosed position; and a spring structure operative to resiliently urgesaid lever member from its closed position toward its intermediateposition.
 18. The computer system of claim 17 wherein said pluggableelectronic device is a hot-pluggable hard disk drive.
 19. The computersystem of claim 17 wherein said lever member has a first end engageableby said housing, and a second end engageable by said retainingstructure.
 20. The computer system of claim 17 wherein said springstructure is rotatable relative to said body and resilientlycompressible between said body and said lever member when said levermember is in said closed position.
 21. The computer system of claim 20wherein said spring structure is a bifurcated spring member having afirst arm engageable with said body when said lever member is in saidclosed position, and a second arm resiliently deflectable by said levermember when said lever member is in said closed position.
 22. Thecomputer system of claim 19 wherein: said retaining member is supportedfor movement between a first position in which it blocks said secondlever member end in a manner preventing said lever member from pivotingfrom said closed position toward said open position, and a secondposition in which said retainer member unblocks said second lever memberend, and said retaining member is resiliently biased toward said firstposition.
 23. The computer system of claim 22 wherein: said computersystem further comprises a resilient spring arm secured to said body andhaving a free end, and said retaining member is secured to said free endof said resilient spring arm.